As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, filming is officially underway on Barbie director Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew for Netflix. Now, a first look at the filmmaker on set has been revealed, alongside two of the movie's young leads.
Gerwig is adapting The Magician's Nephew, a story revolving around a couple of kids who inadvertently unleash the evil White Witch in London. Interestingly, the photos confirm reports that she's shifting the action from late 19th-century Victorian London to the 1950s.
As there's a time jump between this story and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (which takes place during World War II), a similar shift means that it would instead be set during the early 2000s, meaning Gerwig could put a new spin on the iconic story when she reaches that point.
The actors playing Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer haven't been identified, and appear to be two unknowns. Other confirmed cast members (who weren't spotted on set) include Emma Mackey as The White Witch, Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew, Carey Mulligan in a mystery role, and Meryl Streep as Aslan.
"C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books are something that I’ve loved since I was a child," Gerwig previously said. "I would say the two big books of my childhood were Little Women and the Narnia books. So I had that instant excitement, but instant terror that comes from trying to tackle something that has shaped me. I want to make it feel like magic."
"There’s a euphorically dreamlike quality to Lewis’s writing. It’s connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but it’s a combination of different traditions. As a child, you accept the whole thing—that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic."
She added, "I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them."
You can take a closer look at the new footage and photos from the set of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew below. The movie will be released in theaters and on Netflix next November.